Foreign and Commonwealth Office

EU Countries: British Nationals Abroad

The Lord Bishop of Leeds: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many UK nationals are resident in the other EU member states.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: There are approximately 2 million UK citizens living, working and travelling in the other 27 Member States of the EU.

UK Membership of EU

Lord Hamilton of Epsom: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Decision of the Heads of State or Government, meeting within the European Council, concerning a new settlement for the UK within the EU returns to the UK Parliament any competences that are presently conferred on the EU by Title 1 of Part One of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The deal agreed at the February European Council delivers a binding commitment that the Treaties will be changed in the future so that the UK is carved out of ‘ever closer union’. It ensures that the UK will not be liable for eurozone bailouts or discriminated against in the Single Market, and that the Treaties will be changed to reflect that. It establishes a new mechanism for the European Council to review EU legislation every year to see what can be done better at the national level and what can be dropped altogether. It ensures that Parliament will be able, acting with others in Europe, to block unwanted new EU laws. The deal also secures new powers to tackle the abuse of free movement and reduce the unnatural draw of our benefits system, to meet our aim of reducing immigration, by creating fairer rules, while protecting our open economy.

North Korea: Russia

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the Russian Ambassador to the United Kingdom regarding the findings of the UN Commission of Inquiry's 2014 report on human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) that persons who are forcibly repatriated to the DPRK are commonly subjected to torture, arbitrary detention, summary execution, forced abortions and other sexual violence; and the Commission’s recommendation that countries should respect the principle of non-refoulement and abstain from forcibly repatriating any persons to the DPRK.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We have not made specific bilateral representations to the Russian Federation Government on the UN Commission of Inquiry (COI) report.

North Korea: Sanctions

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made at the UN Security Council in drafting a new Resolution on sanctions against North Korea, in particular to require that (1) in stemming the flow of illicit goods, UN member states conduct mandatory inspections of all cargo passing through their territory to or from North Korea; (2) member states freeze the assets of North Korean entities linked to Pyongyang’s nuclear or missile programmes; and (3) the opening of new branches or offices of North Korean banks, or the engagement with North Korean banks, is prohibited.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2270 on 2 March 2016 in response to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) nuclear test of 6 January 2016 and subsequent satellite launch, which used ballistic missile technology, of 7 February 2016.The Government welcomes this Resolution, which was agreed unanimously. This is a clear demonstration that the international community is prepared to take tough measures in response to the North Korea's repeated violations of UN Security Council Resolutions.The Resolution contains a comprehensive set of measures aimed at tackling DPRK's illicit proliferation. These include a ban on the export of coal, titanium, gold and other specialist metals which finance North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. In addition to this, all states are now required to conduct inspections of DPRK flagged vessels, and small arms and light weapons are included in the arms embargo.UN Member States are obliged to freeze the assets of companies and entities linked to North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programme. The Resolution also bans DPRK banks and their subsidiaries from opening new branches overseas and prohibits financial institutions from establishing any joint ventures with these banks.We urge all states to ensure these measures are implemented and all obligations under previous UN Security Council Resolutions are enforced.

Thailand: Refugees

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to discuss with the UNHCR the number of refugees now in detention in Thailand in unhealthy conditions and what can be done to speed up their release; and whether they plan to make representations to the government of Thailand on the detention of women and children, including pregnant women, and early release of all sick detainees.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We continue to work with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Thailand on a wide range of refugee issues. From our conversations with them we understand that the time taken to assess asylum applications in Thailand depends on the circumstances of each case. It can vary from a few months to a couple of years.We are concerned about the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers in Thailand. Although Thailand is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees, we have pressed the Thai authorities to apply international humanitarian norms and standards when handling these vulnerable groups. We are also working with the Thai authorities to improve conditions of detention.

Islamic State: Yazidis

Baroness Crawley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they recognise Islamic State's treatment of the Yazidi people as an act of genocide.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The situation is desperate for many communities within Syria and Iraq. We condemn in the strongest terms the atrocities committed by Daesh against all civilians, including Christians, Mandeans, Yezidis, and other minorities, as well as the majority Muslim population in Syria and Iraq who continue to bear the brunt of Daesh’s brutality.As the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), and other ministers have explained in response to similar questions, it is a long-standing Government policy that any judgements on whether genocide has occurred should be a matter for the international judicial system rather than legislatures, governments or other non-judicial bodies. Our approach is to seek an end to all violations of International Humanitarian Law, and to prevent their further escalation, irrespective of whether these violations fit the definition of specific international crimes.Ultimately, the best way of preventing future atrocities is to defeat Daesh and its violent ideology. That’s why the UK is playing a leading role in a Global Coalition of 66 countries and international organisations to respond to Daesh’s inhumanity.

Australia: Climate Change

Lord Goodlad: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the government of Australia about the proposed changes at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research station at Cape Grim in Tasmania, and what has been the outcome of those discussions.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: There have been no discussions between the British and Australian Governments about the Cape Grim research station, or the future of climate monitoring programmes there, following the recent restructuring plans announced by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).

China: Religious Freedom

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made on behalf of the 12 Christian leaders tried in Zhejiang Province of China in February and what assessment they have made of (1) the impact of that trial and the sentences handed down on the right to freedom of religion or belief in China, and (2) how those events have been received in China.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We pay close attention to the human rights situation in China and regularly raise our concerns about freedom of religion and the restrictions placed on Christianity. We make representations on specific cases during the annual UK-China Human Rights Dialogue. The next Dialogue is scheduled for April 2016. We also raise our public concerns about freedom of religion and belief in China in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy.Regarding the recent trial of Christian leaders in Zhejiang, we remain concerned about the application of due legal process and transparency of justice in China. We are particularly concerned that people seeking to peacefully exercise their right to freedom of expression or belief are being prevented from doing so. We urge China to protect civil and political rights in line with its constitution and international human rights commitments.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Insolvency

Lord Harrison: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the European Commission's Recommendation in 2014 on a new approach to business failure and insolvency on the UK's insolvency regime.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The UK’s flexible and effective restructuring and insolvency regime is very much in keeping with the general themes of the EU Recommendation. Following the European Commission’s 2014 Recommendation, the Government conducted a call for evidence seeking the views of stakeholders and submitted a response to the Commission’s survey on how Member States comply with the Recommendation. The Government published the UK’s response in August 2015. This can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/european-commission-recommendation-on-business-failure-and-insolvency-call-for-evidence 



Gov response to Commission report on insolvency
(PDF Document, 390.4 KB)

UK Trade with EU

Lord Hoyle: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the EU's main exports to the UK, including both goods and services.

Lord Maude of Horsham: This information is given in tables 1 and 2 below. The exports of services figures in Table 1 are sourced from the Office for National Statistics’ Pink Book 2015 release and are on a ‘Balance of Payments’ basis. Figures for exports of goods on the same basis are only available at a broad level of commodity aggregation (1 digit SITC level). Goods data at the level of detail required to answer this PQ are available from HM Revenue and Customs Overseas Trade Statistics database (Table 2) which is attached. These data are on a different (‘merchandise’) basis, hence not strictly comparable with the ONS data. Moreover, data for 2015 are not available for services.Top 10 UK imports of services from the EU in 2014Type of serviceValue (£million)  Travel22,367Other business services15,251Transportation10,368Telecoms, computer and information5,418Financial3,614Intellectual property1,990Construction1,768Government1,763Insurance and pension536Personal, Cultural and Recreational284  Source: ONS Pink Book 2015 Note: Data for 2015 will be published by the ONS in July 2016 



Table 2
(PDF Document, 256.87 KB)

Department for International Development

Immigration: Greece

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what aid has been given to Greece to assist that country in supporting migrants and refugees.

Baroness Verma: Since the start of the Mediterranean migration crisis, the Department for International Development has provided £55 million in response, including over £19 million in Greece. Assistance through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and non-governmental organisations has provided life-saving aid to migrants and refugees to support reception, protection, accommodation, and meet basic needs. We are monitoring the situation closely. We stand ready to meet additional priority needs and are sending a team to Greece to assess the situation.

Humanitarian Aid: Females

Baroness Northover: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that women from affected communities are in positions of leadership and involved in planning and decision-making during a humanitarian emergency response.

Baroness Verma: To ensure that humanitarian responses meet the unique needs of women and girls, women should be provided with opportunities to engage in humanitarian response systems, decision-making processes, and accountability mechanisms. DFID works with partners, including United Nations agencies and non-governmental organisations to promote the inclusion of women and women’s groups in planning and decision-making around preparedness, response, and early recovery. This approach reflects the International Development (Gender Equality) Act 2014 that states that before provision of humanitarian assistance, the Secretary of State shall have regard to how it will take account of gender-related differences in needs. Ensuring the World Humanitarian Summit in May 2016 delivers outcomes for women and girls is a priority for the Government. This includes support towards proposals for system-wide accountability for gender equality and women and girls’ empowerment in crises and increased participation of women’s groups in humanitarian responses.

Humanitarian Aid: Females

Baroness Northover: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that their work supporting humanitarian emergency responses delivers long-term change that empowers women from affected communities.

Baroness Verma: Through meaningful participation and inclusion during humanitarian preparedness and response, women and girls can be included in long-term change and recovery efforts following natural disasters, conflicts, and other crises. The Women, Peace, and Security agenda offers an opportunity to link women’s participation in immediate crises response to wider political, social, and economic participation, including their inclusion in peace processes. Along with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Ministry of Defence, DFID is a partner in delivering the National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security. The World Humanitarian Summit in May 2016 offers an opportunity to ensure that women are empowered during the delivery of humanitarian assistance, which has been demonstrated to accelerate the transition from response to recovery and lead to longer-term efforts to promote and achieve gender equality. One the Government’s priorities for the Summit is to push for it to deliver outcomes for women and girls.

Humanitarian Aid: Females

Baroness Northover: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of humanitarian funding goes to women’s rights organisations and local organisations with expertise in gender during emergencies.

Baroness Verma: Providing opportunities for women’s rights organisations to participate in humanitarian preparedness, response, and recovery is one means to ensure that the unique needs of women and girls are addressed and that the capacities of women and girls are recognised and utilised. This is one of the themes of a high-level leaders’ roundtable event at the World Humanitarian Summit in May 2016, which the Government expects to deliver for women and girls, including on their increased participation in humanitarian assistance. In addition, DFID has contributed £6 million to the United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women, which provides grants to organisations across the world to tackle gender-based violence, including small women’s rights’ and youth-led organisations and has committing to increasing its focus on funding to small women's rights organisations.

Humanitarian Aid: Females

Baroness Northover: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to support proposals at the World Humanitarian Summit in May to ensure that women are involved in planning and decision-making during a humanitarian emergency response.

Baroness Verma: The UK supports proposals to ensure that women are involved in planning and decision-making during responses to humanitarian emergencies. It will be a priority of the UK to secure outcomes from the summit that promote the protection and empowerment of women and girls, strengthening their voice, choice and control in crisis settings.

Yemen: Humanitarian Aid

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether it is their assessment that 82 per cent of the population of Yemen have humanitarian needs; and what action they are taking to prevent deaths from hunger and disease in that country.

Baroness Verma: The United Nations report that 21.2 million people – or 82 per cent of the population – require some kind of humanitarian assistance to meet their basic needs or protect their fundamental rights. The UK government uses this UN report as one of its primary data sources. The UK is the 4th largest donor to the crisis in Yemen and has more than doubled its humanitarian support over the last year to £85 million for 2015/16. The UK is funding the World Food Programme, who are supporting over 580,000 beneficiaries with food assistance. The UK has also provided £21.7 million this financial year to UNICEF, who are providing health and nutrition services through hospitals and mobile clinics.

Department for Education

Schools: Admissions

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, of the schools that had their admission arrangements objected to in (1) 2014, and (2) 2015, what was the average number of School Admissions Code breaches found in each case.

Lord Nash: In 2013/14 the total number of objections upheld and partially upheld was 99, out of 161 determinations published. In 2014/15 the number was 159, out of 260 determinations published.We do not record data on the number of breaches found in individual cases.

GCE A-level

Lord Livermore: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of pupils in each socio-economic group achieved three grade A* to B at A Level in each year for the past 10 years.

Lord Nash: The information requested is not collected by the Department.

Special Educational Needs

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there is a statutory duty on local authorities when turning down an education or health or care plan to advise parents of their right of appeal.

Lord Nash: When a local authority decides not to issue an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan following an EHC needs assessment, it has a statutory duty to inform the child’s parents or the young person of their right to appeal that decision to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) and the timescale for doing so. This duty is set out in the Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice: 0 to 25, paragraph 9.57, which is attached and available on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25Local authorities must also inform parents and young people of their right to appeal when issuing a final EHC plan, since they are able to appeal the description of SEN, the specified SEN provision or the educational institution named in the plan. The duty also applies to other decisions taken by a local authority in connection with an EHC plan, such as the decision not to carry out an assessment or re-assessment, not to amend an EHC plan following an annual review or to cease to maintain an EHC plan. In each case the authority must inform the parents or young person of their right to appeal.



SEND Code of Practice: 0 to 25 - para. 9.57
(PDF Document, 3.23 MB)

Schools: Admissions

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the current availability of school places.

Lord Nash: Local authorities are rising to the challenge of creating new school places where they are needed – 445,000 new places were added between 2010 and 2014, with many more delivered since then. This was supported by £5 billion of funding allocated to local authorities to create new places between 2011 and 2015.Supporting local authorities in their responsibility to ensure sufficient school places in their area remains one of this Government’s top priorities. That is why we have committed to investing £23 billion in school buildings between now and 2021 to create a further 600,000 new places, open 500 new schools and address essential maintenance needs.

Home Education

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whose responsibility it is to collect data on the number of home-educated pupils.

Lord Nash: Some local authorities maintain voluntary registers of children educated at home but as they have no statutory basis, they cannot be regarded as an authoritative source of data.

The Lord Chairman of Committees

Acts: Publishing

Lord Lexden: To ask the Chairman of Committees, further to his Written Answer on 25 February (HL6181), whether he plans to reconsider the decision to cease using vellum for Public Acts.

Lord Laming: As the House Committee was content that we were seeking to take forward the House’s 1999 decision and the House of Commons has indicated that this is a matter for the Lords, I have no such plans.

Peers

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock: To ask the Chairman of Committees what is the current number of Members of the House (1) not on leave of absence, and (2) on leave of absence.

Lord Laming: 815 members are not on leave of absence or disqualified as members of the judiciary; 30 have taken leave of absence; 8 are disqualified as members of the judiciary.You may find it helpful to know that up-to-date information about membership of the House is available on the Parliamentary website: http://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/lords/composition-of-the-lords/.

Peers: Attendance

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock: To ask the Chairman of Committees which Members of the House have so far attended no sittings of the House this Session.

Lord Laming: There are nine members who are currently eligible to attend the House but have yet to attend in the 2015/16 Session. They are: L. AllianceL. BridgesL. Cameron of LochbroomB. HanhamL. IngeL. Neill of BladenL. Thomas of MacclesfieldB. Thomas of WalliswoodL. Wade of Chorlton This list does not include members who are on leave of absence or who are disqualified from attending as members of the judiciary.

Department for Work and Pensions

State Retirement Pensions: British Nationals Abroad

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Altmann on 2 March (HL6343), why Canada was excluded from the list of countries in Annex A, and what figure for the number of people in Canada in receipt of a frozen UK state pension should have been included.

Baroness Altmann: The information requested can be found at page 2 of Annex A, at line 5 of the table provided in the answer I gave on 3 March to (HL 6343). I attach that here at Annex A for convenience. 



Annex A
(PDF Document, 86.85 KB)

Home Office

Refugees: France

Lord Empey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the age range and gender of the unaccompanied children currently resident in the refugee camps in northern France who are expressing a desire to come to the UK.

Lord Bates: The Government does not hold that information. However, Home Office migration statistics show that for all unaccompanied asylum seeker children applications in 2015, 62% were aged 16 or 17 at time of application, 26% were 14 or 15, and 8% were under 14. In this country the obligations under the Children Act mean that anyone aged under 18 will be taken into local authority care as a result of those duties.Both Her Majesty's Government and the French Government are clear that anyone who wants to claim asylum and has close family connections in the UK should first lodge a claim in France so they can be considered for reunification under the Dublin regulations. This is the best way to ensure these vulnerable children receive the protection and support they need and the quickest way to reunite them with any close family members in the UK where appropriate.

Police: Biometrics

Lord Scriven: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 9 March (HL6657), in the light of the fact that the findings of the review of the retention of custody images are now over a year late, whether they will provide an exact date that the findings will be made public.

Lord Bates: The review of the use and Retention of Custody Images is scheduled to be published alongside the Biometrics Strategy.An exact date cannot be announced until pre-publication procedures are completed.

Police: Biometrics

Lord Scriven: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to Written Answer by Lord Bates on 9 March (HL6657), whether the review findings have found the existing practices of police forces are legal and are within the rules laid down by the Information Commissioner and data protection law.

Lord Bates: Findings from the review of use and Retention of Custody Images will be provided to The Science and Technology Committee in due course and copies of the review made available in the Libraries of both Houses.

HM Treasury

Government Departments: Historic Buildings

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will refer to any non-commercial criteria in calculating the economic rent to be charged to HM Treasury, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and the Cabinet Office, for their occupation of historic buildings in Whitehall.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: HM Treasury does not pay an economic rent for its occupation of 1 Horse Guards Road and therefore non-commercial criteria are not applied. HM Treasury's occupation of the building is financed via a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract, let on the commercial market, essentially a commercial leaseback arrangement ‎for 35 years. No information is held by HM Treasury regarding the occupation of historic buildings in Whitehall by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office or the Cabinet Office.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Gas Fired Power Stations

Lord Teverson: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to review the impact on the electricity market of limiting operational run hours for gas-reciprocating-engine-driven electricity back-up plants under environmental permitting legislation.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: Defra will consult later this year on options which will include legislation that would set binding emission limit values on relevant air pollutants from small engines – which may include proposals that would be implemented under environmental permitting legislation. As part of this process Defra will assess the impacts of any policy options it proposes to take forward, and will work with DECC to understand any implications this may have for the electricity market.

Electricity Generation

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they expect the UK to face a power deficit in winter 2016–17, and if so, what action they are taking to prevent electricity shortages.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: The UK will not face a power deficit in winter 2016/17. National Grid has the right tools they need to manage the system and will ensure that they continue to do so. National Grid has already procured 3.6GW of reserve capacity for next winter and, in January, the Capacity Market Transitional Arrangements auction bought 800MW of demand side response capacity for winter 16/17 which will also help secure the system. In addition, National Grid has the option to procure further demand side balancing reserve for 2016/17.

Cabinet Office

Charities: Lobbying

Baroness Barker: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations were made to ministers and officials on the subject of lobbying by charities between May 2010 and February 2016 by organisations other than the Institute of Economic Affairs.

Lord Bridges of Headley: The Government has received a range of representations since 2010 on charities’ lobbying, campaigning and political activities, including from charities themselves. There is no central record that categorises the different representations received.

Charities: Lobbying

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on Principle 1.1 of the coalition document The Compact of the new Cabinet Office policy on charitable campaigning for charities in receipt of government grant funding, published on 6 February.

Lord Bridges of Headley: The new clause is compatible with the Compact because it does not restrict the rights of charities to campaign on behalf of their beneficiaries. What it rightly prevents is this being done with a government grant funded by taxpayers' money, and given for a different purpose.

Charities: Lobbying

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on government consultations and their policy-making processes of the new policy on charitable campaigning for charities in receipt of government grant funding, published on 6 February.

Lord Bridges of Headley: This clause does not contravene any organisation or individuals’ right to take part in government consultations or prevent government seeking input on policy in other ways.

Elections: Expenditure

Lord Rennard: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the Electoral Commission’s conclusion in its report UK Parliamentary General Election 2015: Campaign spending report, that the "Commission should be provided with investigative powers and sanctions for offences relating to candidate spending and donations at specified elections".

Lord Rennard: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the Electoral Commission’s conclusion in its report UK Parliamentary General Election 2015: Campaign spending report, that "in principle, staff costs associated with regulated campaign spending should be included within the regulatory controls for all types of campaigners: candidates, political parties and non-party campaigners".

Lord Rennard: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the Electoral Commission’s conclusion in its report UK Parliamentary General Election 2015: Campaign spending report, that "there is a case for reviewing and increasing the present cap of £20,000 on our power to issue sanctions".

Lord Rennard: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the Electoral Commission’s UK Parliamentary General Election 2015: Campaign spending report.

Lord Bridges of Headley: The Electoral Commission published its “UK Parliamentary General Election 2015: Campaign spending report” on 29 February 2016. The Government is considering the report and will respond in due course.

Elections

Lord Rennard: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response the Law Commissions’ recommendations to reform UK electoral law.

Lord Bridges of Headley: The Government is currently considering the recommendations made by the Law Commissions in their interim report of 4 February. This is a wide-ranging report that covers a number of complex issues and it is important that the Government give the report due consideration before a formal response is made.

UK Membership of EU: Referendums

Lord Tebbit: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether any (1) minister, (2) official, or (3) ministerial special adviser, importuned any persons to sign letters concerning the European Referendum or the consequences of a national vote for leaving the EU in national newspapers; and if so, (a) how many were importuned, (b) how many signed, and (c) how many declined to do so.

Lord Bridges of Headley: I refer the Noble Lord to the Prime Minister's oral response to the Hon Member for Mid Bedfordshire on 22 February 2016: Column 32.



Attachment
(PDF Document, 215.42 KB)

Department of Health

Human Embryo Experiments

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 11 February (HL5646), when the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority changed its practice; what the reasons were for doing so; and how that change in practice had previously been communicated publicly.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) cannot confirm when this practice changed. Making provision for interested members of the public to make their views known, whilst not a legal requirement under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, was part of the HFEA’s past practice although very few applications attracted a response. This change was not communicated publicly.

NHS: Drugs

Lord Clement-Jones: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they support the proposal that NHS England will only pay for patients participating in data collection under the new NICE conditional approval route.

Lord Prior of Brampton: NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence have proposed that, where a drug is recommended for use within the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF), its entry into the Fund would be subject to the company agreeing to fund the collection of a pre-determined data set, during a period normally lasting no longer than 24 months, and a commercial access arrangement which is affordable within the available CDF budget. Access by eligible patients will not be restricted to the number of patients considered necessary for data collection, but any costs for treatment over and above this number will be paid for by the company. At its meeting on 25 February 2016, the NHS England Board agreed a way forward which will see the new operating model going live on 1 July 2016. The Accelerated Access Review is looking at ways to better use data on treatments and outcomes from initiatives, such as the CDF, to drive innovation, adoption and reimbursement of novel treatments.

Cancer: Drugs

Lord Clement-Jones: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what involvement the Prime Minister has had in the formation of proposals for a new Cancer Drugs Fund.

Lord Prior of Brampton: NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence are developing the proposed new arrangements for the Cancer Drugs Fund. My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health, my hon. Friend the Minister for Life Sciences and the Prime Minister have been kept informed as this work has been progressed.

Cancer: Drugs

Lord Clement-Jones: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the anticipated budget impact of the new Cancer Drugs Fund in 2016–17, 2017–18, 2019–20, and 2020–21.

Lord Clement-Jones: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the total budget that NHS England has allocated for the new Cancer Drugs Fund in 2016–17, 2017–18, 2019–20, and 2020–21.

Lord Prior of Brampton: NHS England has advised that it expects that the impact of the new Cancer Drugs Fund on the 2016–17 budget held within NHS England will be no more than £340 million. For future years, NHS England’s aim is to contain the whole budget impact within £340 million over a longer time period, alongside a more structured and timely approach to the appraisal of all cancer drugs.

Cancer: Drugs

Lord Clement-Jones: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans the Department of Health has to instruct NICE to include a broader assessment of value in its appraisals of cancer medicines.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body that provides guidance on the prevention and treatment of ill health and the promotion of good health and social care. NICE is responsible for its own processes and methodology. In 2014, NICE held a three month consultation on proposals for a wider approach to the assessment of value. The diversity of the responses to NICE’s consultation showed that this is a very complex issue. It is critical that stakeholders continue to have confidence in NICE’s work and the Government agreed with NICE that it should not proceed with making the proposed changes to the way it assesses new medicines at that time. NICE regularly reviews its processes and methodology and its internationally renowned technology appraisal programme has evolved constantly to meet new challenges. NICE has demonstrated its ability to adapt to changes in the health and care environment, and we expect it will continue to evolve in the future. NICE most recently consulted on proposed changes to its technology appraisal methods and processes as part of its joint consultation with NHS England on proposals for a new Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF). The Accelerated Access Review (AAR) is actively engaging with NHS England to ensure alignment between the work of the review on speeding up access for NHS patients to innovative and cost effective new medicines and the CDF. The AAR is looking at the capability of NICE, NHS England and the Department to support innovative pathways for the assessment, adoption and reimbursement of treatments.

Cancer: Drugs

Lord Clement-Jones: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the Systemic Anti-Cancer Therapy Dataset in the collection of health outcome data from patients receiving cancer medicines paid for by the Cancer Drugs Fund.

Lord Prior of Brampton: In July 2015, NHS England and Public Health England (PHE) signed a data sharing agreement concerning the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) use, enabling NHS England to provide to PHE details of patients for whom a CDF treatment had been requested by clinicians. This will enable PHE to link information on patients for whom a CDF treatment was requested (from 1 April 2013 onwards) with a range of other data sets. There is presently no agreement between NHS England and PHE in terms of providing outcome information on patients receiving CDF funded treatments, or other systemic anti-cancer therapies, on a regular basis. However, PHE and NHS England are currently having detailed and productive discussions to establish a dedicated core resource which will provide NHS England with routine and bespoke information and analysis, focusing on both routine chemotherapy and activity data and outcome and quality metrics, which can include outcome analyses on the CDF. The Accelerated Access Review is looking at ways to better use data on treatments and outcomes from initiatives, such as the CDF, to drive innovation, adoption and reimbursement of novel treatments.

Hearing Aids

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of research presented to the American Academy for the Advancement of Science concerning the impact of hearing loss on the development of dementia, they will instruct Clinical Commissioning Groups to stop restricting access to hearing aids.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Department does not issue advice to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) on hearing aid provision. CCGs are responsible for the provision of conventional hearing aids for mild to moderate hearing loss within their local population. As with other services CCGs commission, they should take into consideration assessments of local need and any relevant clinical guidance from appropriate national bodies such as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

Hospitals: Working Hours

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish all evidence they have available on the mechanism whereby increasing the presence of consultants and diagnostic tests at weekends will result in lower mortality and reduced length of stay.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Department published a summary of the research examining the association between weekend hospital admissions and poorer patient outcomes, including higher rates of mortality, on 15 October 2015 on the gov.uk website. A range of potential causal links for this association have been identified; one of these is the availability of staff and services at weekends. The following studies were published on the gov.uk website at the following address: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/research-into-the-weekend-effect-on-hospital-mortality/research-into-the-weekend-effect-on-patient-outcomes-and-mortality Of these, the following four articles are published in academic journals and are only available by subscription.  Freemantle et al (2015), BMJ 2015; 351:h4596, Increased mortality associated with weekend hospital admission: a case for expanded seven day services? Independent research that analysed 2013 to 2014 hospital episodes statistics (HES) data found:- although there are fewer hospital admissions at weekends, patients who are admitted on Saturday and Sunday are sicker and face an increased likelihood of death within 30 days, even when severity of illness is taken into account;- patients admitted on a Sunday have a 15% greater risk of mortality compared to those admitted on Wednesday;- patients admitted on a Saturday have a 10% greater risk of mortality compared to those admitted on a Wednesday;- there are around 11,000 excess deaths in hospitals every year among patients admitted on a Friday, Saturday, Sunday or Monday compared with other days of the week. The authors included the effect of Fridays and Mondays as ‘appropriate support services in hospitals are usually reduced from late Friday through the weekend, leading to disruption on Monday morning’;- oncology patients admitted on a Sunday have a 29% increased risk of death compared to those admitted on a Wednesday; and- patients with cardiovascular disease admitted on a Sunday have a 20% increased risk of death compared to those admitted on a Wednesday.The study concluded that it is not possible to determine how many of the excess deaths were avoidable, but that the statistic is ‘not otherwise ignorable’ and ‘raises challenging questions about reduced service provision at weekends’. The Global Comparators project: international comparison of 30-day in-hospital mortality by day of the week, BMJ Qual Saf Published Online First 6 July 2015, doi:10.1136/bmjqs-2014-003467 The Global Comparators dataset collects inpatient records across 50 hospitals in 10 countries. Analysis of a sub-sample of this data (28 hospitals across England, Australia, United States of America and Netherlands) for emergency admissions showed:- there is an overall 30-day crude mortality rate of 3.9%; the English hospitals had the highest crude morality rate (4.6%); crude mortality rates for the English, Dutch and USA hospitals were higher at weekends compared with weekdays; and- emergency patients in the English, USA and Dutch hospitals showed a significantly higher adjusted risk of death within 30 days following admission on a Saturday or Sunday compared with admission on a Monday.This study did not show a difference in mortality within 30 days for patients admitted at weekends in Australian hospitals. However, when analysing mortality within seven days, the Australian hospitals showed 12% higher risk of death when admitted on a Saturday compared to a Monday, and 11% higher risk of death following a Sunday admission. Freemantle et al (2012), J R Soc Med. 2012 Feb;105(2):74-84, Weekend hospitalisation and additional risk of death: an analysis of inpatient data Analysis of 2009 to 2010 HES data found:- patients admitted to hospital on a Sunday had a 16% greater risk of death within 30 days compared to those admitted on a Wednesday;- patients admitted on a Saturday had an 11% increased risk of death within 30 days compared to those admitted on a Wednesday;- day of admission was associated with increased risk of death in seven of the 10 most common CCS groups (clinical conditions), for example:- patients admitted on a Sunday with acute and unspecified renal failure had a 37% increased risk of death compared with those admitted on a Wednesday; and- patients admitted on a Sunday with acute myocardial infarction had an 11% increased risk of death compared to those admitted on a Wednesday. Aylin et al (2010), Qual Saf Health Care 2010; 19:213-217, Weekend mortality for emergency admissions: a large multicentre study This was one of the first, large scale studies of English data to explore weekend mortality rates for emergency admissions.Using the data for financial year 2005 to 2006, the study found:- crude mortality rates are higher for patients admitted at weekends compared to weekdays (5.2% for all weekend admissions; 4.9% for all weekday admissions; overall crude mortality rate: 5.0%);- there is a 10% higher risk of death for patients admitted as an emergency at the weekend compared with those admitted on a weekday; and- there may be a possible 3,369 excess deaths occurring at the weekend compared to weekdays (equivalent to a 7% higher risk of death).  East Midlands Clinical Senate (2014), 7 Day Services Report: Acute Collaborative ReportTen East Midlands acute trusts undertook a data gathering exercise to look at current provision against the 10 clinical standards for urgent and emergency care that underpin consistently high quality care 7 days a week. A copy of this report is attached. NHS Services, Seven Days a Week Forum (2013), was a clinically-led process which included an extensive review of the published literature alongside analysis of HES data to explore patient outcomes at weekends compared to during the week. A copy of this report is attached. Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (2012), seven day consultant present care.In light of evidence demonstrating less favourable patient outcomes at weekends compared to weekdays, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges presented proposals for achieving parity for inpatient care throughout the week. A copy of the report is attached.   



East Midlands Clinical 7 day service
(PDF Document, 3.07 MB)




7 day consultant present care
(PDF Document, 864.68 KB)




7 day services forum
(PDF Document, 1 MB)

Medical Equipment: Procurement

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to ensure that the adoption of new medical device technology by the NHS is not frustrated by the five-year length of NHS Supply Chain Framework Agreements, given the life cycle of some inventions.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The framework agreements awarded by NHS Supply Chain primarily cover existing products and services. National frameworks reduce the duplication of effort faced by suppliers trying to ‘sell their’ products into the National Health Service on a trust by trust basis by providing a single route, compliant with European Union public procurement regulations. The scope and duration of each framework agreement takes into account the nature of the product category, including an assessment of whether the product market is emerging or fast moving. In addition, NHS Supply Chain hosts an Innovation Scorecard enabling suppliers to introduce truly innovative products into the NHS following a submission through the online tool on the organisation’s website. If a product is deemed to be innovative, the product can be fast-tracked and made available to the NHS through NHS Supply Chain’s online and national catalogues usually within a six month period. The Accelerated Access Review, announced by the Minister for Life Sciences in November 2014 will make recommendations to Government on speeding up access to transformative new medicines and technologies for NHS patients, using data from initiatives such as the CDF and EAMS, as well as greater use of procurement purchasing power to accelerate cost effective uptake of innovations. Its key aims are to improve care and outcomes by giving patients quicker access to new treatment and improve the longer-term affordability of the product pipeline. The Review published an interim report in October 2015 and will make further recommendations to Government by April 2016.

Autism

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they maintain statistics relating to (1) autism referrals, (2) initial assessments of autism, and (3) diagnosis of autism; and if so, how many of each there were during each of the past five years.

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what has been the average time between (1) autism referrals and initial assessments, and (2) initial assessments and diagnosis, for each of the past five years.

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether health managers and practitioners in England have had access to the 2008 Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety Independent Review of Autism Services or to any similar independent guidance regarding appropriate timescale targets for moving from initial autism referrals to diagnosis and appropriate care.

Lord Prior of Brampton: No formal statistics are collected of autism referrals, initial assessments or diagnoses. The Department does however commission Public Health England each year to carry out a self-assessment exercise with local authority areas on progress they are making in implementing the Autism Strategy for Adults in England. Local authorities work with their local partners including clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to informally answer a range of questions. In the exercise based on 2013 data, all 152 local authority areas replied but some did not answer all the questions. Areas were asked how many adults have completed the diagnostic pathway in the preceding year and 111 reported a total of 4,677. They were also asked the length of the average wait for referral to diagnostic services and 117 answered this question. The average of these figures, weighted for the population in the responding areas, was 27.9 weeks. The exercise based on 2014 data saw 149 areas respond. They were asked how many adults had received a diagnosis of an autistic spectrum condition in the preceding year and 128 reported a total of 5,109. Areas were also asked the length of the average wait between referral and assessment for all adults and 135 answered this question. The average of these figures, similarly weighted, was 19.6 weeks. Information on the waiting time between autism referrals and initial assessments, and between initial assessments and diagnosis, was not collected during these exercises. The next exercise will be launched later in the spring. The number of children and young people diagnosed with autism by the National Health Service is not collected centrally. Latest figures from the School Census (2015) state that there were 90,775 pupils with an autistic spectrum condition at state funded schools and non-maintained special schools in England. This has increased from a total of 56,250 in 2010 who were recorded as having a primary need of autism, but it is not directly comparable to the 2015 figures because of a change in collection methodology. New statutory guidance was issued in England in March 2015 to support implementation of the Adult Autism Strategy. This set out what people seeking an autism diagnosis can expect from local authorities and NHS bodies. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published three clinical guidelines on autism and a quality standard to assist health managers and practitioners in developing services. This includes a recommendation that an assessment is started within three months of the referral. NHS England has commenced a programme to visit CCGs to identify and share good practice in accessing autism diagnosis, and look at possible barriers. NHS England will complete a report on this by the end of April 2016.

Autism

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are aware of the recent case of 15 year-old Matthew Garnett who, as a consequence of being on the autistic spectrum, has been confined to a psychiatric intensive care unit for six months without having been moved to a more appropriate care facility, and what action they are taking to prevent such cases arising in future.

Lord Prior of Brampton: We are aware of this case, and we welcome NHS England’s confirmation that Matthew will be moving to a more appropriate facility in the next month. Delivery of appropriate care for the few individuals with very complex needs will always be a challenge. The people who can best assess local care needs and ensure that those needs are met are local commissioners, though some people will require care that is commissioned on a national level for rare conditions, including some mental health conditions with comorbidities such as autistic spectrum disorders or learning disabilities. This includes inpatient treatment for children and young people with mental health conditions. NHS England is continuing Care and Treatment Reviews for children and young people with learning disabilities in inpatient settings and 52 week residential schools. These reviews ensure the care and setting are appropriate to the child or young person’s needs, and where needed, allow planned moves to community-based care or more appropriate inpatient accommodation.

Pharmacy: Finance

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how the six per cent decrease in community pharmacy funding will be allocated to ensure that access to medication at all times is maintained, in particular for those who are frail or who have complex conditions.

Lord Prior of Brampton: Community pharmacy is a vital part of the National Health Service and can play an even greater role. In the Spending Review, the Government re-affirmed the need for the NHS to deliver £22 billion in efficiency savings by 2020/21 as set out in the NHS’s own plan, the Five Year Forward View. Community pharmacy is a core part of NHS primary care and has an important contribution to make as the NHS rises to these challenges. The Government believes efficiencies can be made without compromising the quality of services including patients’ access to medicines. Our aim is to ensure that those community pharmacies upon which people depend continue to thrive and so we are consulting on the introduction of a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which will provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared to others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population.

NHS: Drugs

Baroness Masham of Ilton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the impact of the price of five per cent coal tar ointment on the NHS Drug Tariff for England and Wales on Clinical Commissioning Groups' decision to pay for that treatment.

Lord Prior of Brampton: We have made no such assessment. In primary care, the prescribing decision rests with the patient’s general practitioner. The cost of any medicine has to be balanced against the importance of meeting the individual treatment needs of patients and potential adverse consequences for patients and additional costs to the National Health Service if supply is interrupted, for example the re-emergence of symptoms or relapse of the condition on stopping treatment. Clinical commissioning groups can issue prescribing advice taking into account the cost of medicine.

Cancer: Drugs

Lord Clement-Jones: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what criteria NHS England and NICE will apply when deciding on the commercial agreement to be put in place to provide treatment to patients under the conditional approval route in the new Cancer Drugs Fund.

Lord Clement-Jones: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what types of commercial agreements NHS England and NICE will be required to consider as part of the conditional approval route in the new Cancer Drugs Fund.

Lord Prior of Brampton: NHS England has advised that it intends to publish new detailed standard operating procedures for the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) by June 2016. These will include any further general details concerning the nature of managed access agreements associated with a drug’s entry into the Fund.The Accelerated Access Review (AAR) is actively engaging with NHS England to ensure alignment between the work of the review on speeding up access for National Health Service patients to innovative and cost effective new medicines and the CDF. The AAR is looking at the capability of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, NHS England and the Department to support innovative pathways for the assessment, adoption and reimbursement of treatments.

Cancer: Drugs

Lord Clement-Jones: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of NHS England’s and NICE’s capabilities in relation to the commercial negotiations between them and pharmaceutical manufacturers in respect of the conditional approval route under the new Cancer Drugs Fund.

Lord Prior of Brampton: NHS England’s Board agreed, on 25 February 2016, a way forward which will see the proposed new arrangements for the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) going live on 1 July 2016 We expect NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to work together to ensure that both organisations have the necessary capability and capacity to implement these proposals, including the introduction of a conditional approval route. The Accelerated Access Review (AAR) is actively engaging with NHS England to ensure alignment between the work of the review on speeding up access for NHS patients to innovative and cost effective new medicines and the CDF. The AAR is looking at the capability of NICE, NHS England and the Department to support innovative pathways for the assessment, adoption and reimbursement of treatments.

Diabetes

Lord Harrison: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what work NHS England and Monitor are undertaking to develop new payment and incentives mechanisms that drive integrated care for diabetes across primary and secondary care settings; and what is the time frame for any new proposals to be published.

Lord Harrison: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much money the NHS invested in ensuring access to and provision of structured education for diabetes patients in (1) 2013, (2) 2014 and (3) 2015, and what percentage those figures represent of total NHS spend on diabetes during each year.

Lord Harrison: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the current primary performance management mechanism through which NHS England hold Clinical Commissioning Groups to account for achieving progress in diabetes service improvement and quality of care.

Lord Prior of Brampton: NHS England and Monitor are working closely together to ensure that the payment system supports service developments in the vanguard sites (including those where integrated diabetes care is a focus) as well as monitoring local innovative approaches to supporting integrated care taken by some clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). This is to ensure that the payment system keeps abreast with the development of future service models and is not a barrier to the development of new models of care. During 2016/17, NHS England will look at the current incentives and funding arrangements for diabetes to see how greater alignment could be achieved between the financial incentives for primary and secondary care. Information on how much money the National Health Service invested in structured education for diabetes patients is not collected centrally. Under the Health and Social Care Act (2012), NHS England has a statutory duty to conduct an annual assessment of every CCG. Since April 2013, CCGs have been assessed twice, for the period 2013/14 and for 2014/15. For 2016/17, NHS England will introduce a new CCG Improvement and Assessment Framework (CCG IAF). This new framework will align with NHS England’s mandate and planning process, with the aim of driving improvements in a number of key areas including the management and care of people with diabetes.  NHS England has been working with Diabetes UK on including diabetes indicators in the CCG IAF. The proposed diabetes indicators are: - the percentage of diabetes patients that have achieved all three of the National Institute for Heath and Care Excellence recommended treatment targets; and- newly diagnosed diabetes patients referred to, or attending, a structured education course. Under the proposals, diabetes will also be one of the six clinical priority areas in the CCG IAF that will be overseen by an independent group. The CCG IAF proposals are subject to the outcome of an engagement process which closed for comments on February 26 2016. More information can be found at: https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/ccg-improvmnt/

Diabetes: Nurses

Lord Harrison: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many diabetes specialist nurses are currently employed by (1) each Clinical Commissioning Group area, and (2) each hospital trust, in England.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Health and Social Care Information Centre provides information on the number of nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff employed in the National Health Service in England but it does not separately identify diabetes specialist nurses. It is for local NHS organisations with their knowledge of the healthcare needs of their local population to invest in training for specialist skills and to deploy specialist nurses.

Medical Examiners

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 17 December 2015 (HL4371), whether they are now able to publish implementation plans for the roll-out of the system of medical examiners.

Lord Prior of Brampton: We remain committed to the principle of medical examiners and will be setting out further information in due course.

Hospitals: Infectious Diseases

Baroness Walmsley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have assessed the amount of infection brought into hospitals by staff uniforms worn outside.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Department first published Uniforms and Work wear: An evidence base for developing local policy in 2007, with an update to this guidance published in March 2010. A copy of this document is attached. The guidance was informed by two extensive literature reviews conducted by Thames Valley University and by practical research on washing uniform fabrics carried out at University College Hospital. Whilst there is a theoretical risk, this work‎ supported the conclusion that there was no evidence that uniforms and workwear played a direct role in spreading infection. Nonetheless, the clothes that staff wear should facilitate good practice and minimise any risk to patients. Public attitudes and perceptions indicate that it is good practice for staff either to change at work or to cover their uniforms as they travel to and from work. Changing into and out of uniforms at work is included as a good practice example in the guidance.  



DH Uniforms and Workwear Guidance March 2010
(PDF Document, 209.41 KB)

Blood Diseases: Drugs

Lord Walton of Detchant: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether appropriate treatment for patients with plasma disorders such as haemophilia and primary immunodeficiency, as provided for under the statutory scheme for branded medicines, will continue to be provided following the review of that scheme by the Department of Health.

Lord Prior of Brampton: We are continuing to consider carefully all the consultation responses. It is important we get these changes right for patients, the National Health Service and industry. We want to look in particular at the impact on small and medium sized businesses, while securing the medicines patients need at a cost which the NHS can afford.

NHS: Migrant Workers

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many EU nationals work in the NHS in England.

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many non-UK, non-EU nationals work in the NHS in England.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Health and Social Care Information Centre collects data on the number of staff working in National Health Service hospital and community health services in England.Nationality is a self-reported field within the NHS electronic staff record system. Of those individuals who declared their nationality, 1,050,034 (93.5%) are European Union nationals (this includes 994,693 British nationals and 55,341 other EU nationals). There are a further 73,681 (6.5%) non United Kingdom and non EU nationals.

Abortion

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many abortions there were in 2015 at 23 weeks gestation and above.

Lord Prior of Brampton: This data is not currently available. Abortion data for 2015 will be published by the Department in May.

Prisoners: Learning Disability

Lord Bradley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many individual prisoner screening assessments for learning disabilities were undertaken in each prison in England in each of the last five years.

Lord Prior of Brampton: NHS England is currently auditing prison screening for learning disabilities, but this information is not collected centrally at present.

Cancer

Lord Freyberg: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Prior of Brampton on 4 February (HL5344), 11 February (HL5970), and 3 March (HL6245), what are the minimum number of cancer reports that are expected for delivery back to patients by the end of (1) March, (2) June, and (3) September.

Lord Prior of Brampton: We are advised by Genomics England that no cancer reports will be returned by the end of March 2016. The priorities for the cancer component of the 100,000 Genomes project are the improvement of the sample processing, sequencing and bioinformatics capabilities across National Health Service Genomic Medicine Centres and Genomics England partnerships. It is unlikely that there will be any clinically actionable reports for cancer in the period to the end of September 2016.

Cancer

Lord Freyberg: To ask Her Majesty’s Government who is accountable for the project delivery plan for Genomic England’s cancer programme in (1) the Department of Health, and (2) Genomic England.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Director General for Innovation, Growth and Technology in the Department of Health is Senior Responsible Officer for the 100,000 Genomes Project and is responsible for holding delivery partners to account. The Executive Chairman for Genomics England is accountable for delivery of the project.

Cancer

Lord Freyberg: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what timeframe has been agreed for Genomic England to publish a plan with patient volumes that can be shared with Parliament, and what steps they will take to hold the responsible individuals to account if they fail to deliver on any such plan.

Lord Prior of Brampton: There are currently no plans to publish future patient volumes. However, the Department holds delivery partners to account for delivery of the project.